Friday, February 13, 2004
Making Software Smarter
Posted by Robert Levy in "THOUGHT" @ 11:12 PM
Anyone else out there notice the subtle change in the Google Toolbar today? They replaced their logo, the background of the textbox, and the "Search" button with a Valentine's Day them. At first glance this is a just a "oh that's interesting" kind of thing (and there are surely some people who find it annoying) but to a geek like me it is a sign of much more... it is a primitive step down the path of software becoming smarter. And more importantly, it's prompted me to post this rant...
When someone talks about software being "smarter" there are really two things they could mean. The first is making software that can do more in less time. The second is making software that can integrate itself seamlessly into the user's life - their life outside of the software. Most of the software ever written has the first in mind.
The past few decades have been all about this idea that computers should let you do more and do it faster. The industry as a whole has done a good job of meeting that goal. Now it's time for phase 2 of smart computing. I want my computers (desktop and handheld) to understand me, my lifestyle, what I'm currently doing, and how I want to do it. I want my computer to figure this out on it's own - I shouldn't have to tell every app every time my goals or circumstances change.
Here's an example: Outlook and Internet Explorer each have a "Work Offline" menu option. It's bad enough that they need this menu option - my computer should know when it's offline. What's worse is that these two apps don't interact with each other (setting Outlook to work offline does not automatically set IE to work offline).
The future of software is all about integration. Software integrating with other software and, more importantly, software integrating with it's user. Here's a good example of where this kind of integration has been done well: if you set your Smartphone's profile to "automatic", it will keep tabs on your calendar and (based on whether or not you are currently scheduled to be in a meeting) switch between ringing and vibrating. But even this isn't perfect yet... If you're in a boring meeting and decide to play a game, the game isn't smart enough to realize what's going on and is quite likely to start making loud noises. This significantly hurts your relationship with both the software and with your co-workers. All because the software didn't integrate itself into the rest of my life.
Of course, this isn't really the fault of 3rd party software developers. The operating system pretty much determines how much they can do. And right now no operating system (desktop or handheld) makes it as easy as it should be for software to achieve this new level of intelligence.
We are changing that in Windows Mobile. This platform in particular is all about smart, personal devices so it only makes sense for Microsoft and 3rd party developers to work together on making the devices smarter and more personal. So what exactly are we (Microsoft) working on to enable developers to do this? Come to MDC and find out first hand.
What are your favorite examples of software being smart?
When someone talks about software being "smarter" there are really two things they could mean. The first is making software that can do more in less time. The second is making software that can integrate itself seamlessly into the user's life - their life outside of the software. Most of the software ever written has the first in mind.
The past few decades have been all about this idea that computers should let you do more and do it faster. The industry as a whole has done a good job of meeting that goal. Now it's time for phase 2 of smart computing. I want my computers (desktop and handheld) to understand me, my lifestyle, what I'm currently doing, and how I want to do it. I want my computer to figure this out on it's own - I shouldn't have to tell every app every time my goals or circumstances change.
Here's an example: Outlook and Internet Explorer each have a "Work Offline" menu option. It's bad enough that they need this menu option - my computer should know when it's offline. What's worse is that these two apps don't interact with each other (setting Outlook to work offline does not automatically set IE to work offline).
The future of software is all about integration. Software integrating with other software and, more importantly, software integrating with it's user. Here's a good example of where this kind of integration has been done well: if you set your Smartphone's profile to "automatic", it will keep tabs on your calendar and (based on whether or not you are currently scheduled to be in a meeting) switch between ringing and vibrating. But even this isn't perfect yet... If you're in a boring meeting and decide to play a game, the game isn't smart enough to realize what's going on and is quite likely to start making loud noises. This significantly hurts your relationship with both the software and with your co-workers. All because the software didn't integrate itself into the rest of my life.
Of course, this isn't really the fault of 3rd party software developers. The operating system pretty much determines how much they can do. And right now no operating system (desktop or handheld) makes it as easy as it should be for software to achieve this new level of intelligence.
We are changing that in Windows Mobile. This platform in particular is all about smart, personal devices so it only makes sense for Microsoft and 3rd party developers to work together on making the devices smarter and more personal. So what exactly are we (Microsoft) working on to enable developers to do this? Come to MDC and find out first hand.
What are your favorite examples of software being smart?
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